


Guys, I Don't Think We're in Seoul Anymore

by Just_All_Random



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alterate Universe Shenanigans, M/M, Non-AU with a twist, Self-Indulgent, Wormholes, gets pretty confusing sorry, i should be working on a different fic, it's a mess, traveling through different alternate universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-07-23 04:30:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16151639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_All_Random/pseuds/Just_All_Random
Summary: A wormhole suddenly opens up in Soonyoung and Hansol's room. Their flat mates decide to investigates and Minghao and Soonyoung both get sucked into the wormhole. Looks like it's up to Seventeen to go in and save their members themselves, and not call the authoritives or anyone at all.





	1. Guys, I Don't Think We're in Seoul Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> I know I know, I should be working on Platonic Kisses but liek it is so unfinished. So, to make up for my absence until I finally get the next chapter out, I might as well post this unbeta'd, kinda confusing at times, trashy fic that is purely self indulgent. I obviously don't know how to properly tag or summarize this, but to get the gist of it, it's just svt going through dimensional portals to alternate universes. That's it.
> 
> So enjoy :)

"What the hell is that?!"

Hansol nearly falls off his bed from the loud screech coming from his roommate.

"What is what, hyu— what the crap?!" Hansol unconsciously switches into English, not really caring because there's gaping five foot hole of bright, white light that only seems to perplex him the more he stares at it. A strong gust is blown out of it, sending both Soonyoung's and Hansol's sheets flying off of them, small tributes and figures on shelves falling back or to the ground in loud thuds or broken clashes. Hansol spots his BB-9E swerving back and forth in its place, rolling forward to the edge of the shelf. He catches it before it falls, snatching its platform as well.

The door swings open, blown back by the powerful wind coming from the hole.

"What the—" before Jeonghan can even voice out a cuss, a pillow is flung at his face before it falls to the floor. The winds settles into a low, calm breeze.

"Is everything alright?" Chan peeks out his door along with Seungkwan, Junhui tiredly yawning behind them.

"Woah..." Minghao peers into Vernon and Soonyoung's room, amazement painted in his eyes. Scurrying back into his room, Minghao comes out with his camera in hand. Soonyoung immediately assumes into a pose while Vernon stares blankly into the lens, wide eyed and mouth slightly agape. Putting down his camera, Minghao walks inside their room, closer and closer to the bright hole as if he's being drawn into it, despite it blowing out air.

"Hao, I don't think you should get closer to it," Junhui warns the other Chinese male.

"But it's so pretty.." Minghao quietly says, entranced, hand reaching inside of it.

"Stop!" Soonyoung latches onto Minghao's arm. For a moment, the hole stops blowing out wind, anything flying up from it settling down or fluttering to the floor. And all at once, Minghao drops his arm, the wormhole seems to reactivate itself, only this time, instead of pushing out wind it begins to suck in the air.

With a yelp, Minghao falls forward into the wormhole with Soonyoung, who's still latched onto his arm. They both disappear into the light screaming, everyone watching in disbelief as they hold onto anything stable enough to keep them from receiving the same fate as the two dancers. Though, it takes Chan and Seungkwan to hold back Junhui from going after them.

"Let go of me! You're just gonna let that happen?!" Junhui shouts over the loud, sharp whipping sound of air being sucked into the wormhole, items and objects flying around and getting sucked into the wormhole. He notices that the hole seems to be getting bigger, the light getting brighter and brighter along with it as it gets stronger and stronger.

"What's happening?!"

Hansol holds onto his headboard for dear life, his fingers slipping the stronger the wormhole becomes.

"I can't hold on any longer!" Hansol screams, body stretched thin in air as it gravitates to the wormhole.

"Yes you can! Don't let go!" Seungkwan shouts.

All within a blink of an eye, the hole enlarges and implodes into itself, disappearing into the air. Hansol drops from the air and onto his bed, papers and sheets and clothes and whatever fall to the ground. He blinks a few times, groaning in pain and disorder. Junhui doesn't move, no one does. No one utters a sound, processing what the hell just happened.

Their _members_ , just got sucked into a _wormhole_  that appeared out of nowhere.

"What the fuck."

 

  
"You're kidding me right now," Seungcheol deadpans, observing the other members' expressions. Seungkwan is crying, Chan is pacing in front of Hansol's and Soonyoung's mess of a room, Junhui is curled in a ball and teetering back and forth, Jeonghan is practically hysterical in the way blurts out everything in rushed jumble, Hansol is staring blankly into nothing, and Soonyoung and Minghao aren't present. Mingyu comforts Junhui, putting his arm around his shoulders and hugging him close.

"Jeonghan, Jeonghan, shh," Jisoo runs his hand down Jeonghan's back, calming him down from his ongoing ramble.

"Jisoo! Soonyoung and Minghao are _gone_!" Jeonghan clutches onto Jisoo's shirt.

"What?!" Seokmin and Wonwoo both say in unison.

"They got sucked into that thing! Weren't you listening to me?" The older screeches.

"Wait. You mean, that whatever appeared in that room took Soonyoung and Minghao?" Jihoon rubs his fingers into his temples, trying to process whatever nonsense is coming from his incoherent group members. The other five furiously nod.

"That's impossible," Seungcheol shakes his head, crossing his arms.

"We saw it with our own damn eyes," Hansol finally says something, broken out of his trance-like state, though he said it all in English. "I was floating off the ground. I would've been like them if I wasn't holding onto my headboard for so long," he determinedly stands up, eyes maintaining contact with Seungcheol, even if the other can't understand a word he says.

"I think they're telling the truth, Cheol," Jisoo defends them. Seungcheol stubbornly shakes his head again.

"It's just not possible. Nothing about this sounds real," the eldest refuses.

"Then where else would Soonyoung hyung and Minghao hyung be right now? Minghao hyung has his phone in his room, you know he never leaves his phone around," Chan reasons with their leader.

"You're right, but," Wonwoo begins, expression puzzled, calculating the possibilities, but mostly thinking about Minghao and where could he possibly have gone if what his friends say is true. "Seungcheol is right, this is just impossible. Wormholes don't exist, science hasn't proven the existence of one yet, and even then, I'm sure they can't just appear out of thin air."

Almost as if the universe wants to make Wonwoo eat his words, the room flashes like a camera taking a picture, and suddenly an opening appears behind Wonwoo, bright light almost blinding to his weak eyes. He backs away from it, some of the others screaming at the sight of it. A strong gust blows out of it, causing Wonwoo to hold up his arms to shield himself.

"What the..." Jihoon trails off, mouth agape. Junhui clings to Mingyu, Jeonghan clings Jisoo, and Seungcheol grabs Jihoon from his awe-stricken state, hugging his body close to protect him from any object that flies around the room. Seungkwan and Chan run into their room, closing the door behind them.

The gust of wind calms down, fading into a calm, harmless breeze.

"What did I tell you?" Jeonghan throws his arms up, annoyed.

"In a moment, that thing will suck everything up and cave into itself. We have to do hurry and do something before it disappears," Hansol informs them, in Korean this time. "We have to go in!"

"Hansol, this could quite possibly be a portal to a whole new dimension. We can't possibly know the conse—"

"Bullshit," Wonwoo interrupts Seungcheol. He hurries to the front door, putting his shoes on. "Tell me when it's about to disappear. I'm packing," he opens the door.

"Packing for what?" Seungcheol almost barks, annoyed Wonwoo, a normally respectful guy, just interrupted him to call his words bullshit.

"I'm going in. I don't know about you guys, but I think we should go get our friends back," Wonwoo huffs, closing the door behind him. The others look from one to another, distraught and worried.

"I think I'm with Wonwoo on this one, guys," Junhui stands up, walking over to his room. "I'm gonna go pack to."

"But, guys. This is something we have no knowledge or information of. We are toying with things we don't know how to play with," Seungcheol warns them.

"Shouldn't we bring this to the government?" Jihoon asks.

"No. Who knows what the government will do about it. What if they close the portal and we never see Soonyoung or Minghao again? The government can't know about this until we get out friends back," Jeonghan says.

"They wouldn't just shut it off with the knowledge of our friends in there, would they?" Chan asks, quietly opening the door to his room.

"Haven't you guys seen those movies where the government just ruins everything because they're so concerned about their own well-being?"

"I think you're watching too many superhero and spy films, Hansol."

"Guys, now's not the time! Why don't we just pack up and go?" Mingyu stands up.

"But this stuff is dangerous, Mingyu. We don't even know if it's safe to cross," Seungcheol tries to sit him back down, though to no avail.

"I don't know about you, hyung," Seokmin balls his fists, walking to the front door like Wonwoo did. "I'm not going to leave Soonie in some alternate dimension alone, nor will I let him die alone. I'm going to go pack, guys."

"But..." Seungcheol tries to reason with his members, but he trails off unconfidently. Jihoon pats his back, looking into his eyes until they reach a mutual understanding. Seungcheol sighs. "Okay, everyone pack up. Be quick and not a lot, though. We don't want this thing to disappear with our friends inside."

 

  
Wonwoo walks back into the living room where everyone sat, closing the door to Minghao's room. He was in his room neatly stuffing a few things of Minghao's down is backpack in case when they find Minghao and Soonyoung, he can give a few things to the younger male wants and needs. He asked Seokmin if he was going do the same for Soonyoung, but it seems the other was way ahead of him on that, packing the many things Soonyoung can't live without inside his backpack.

"I'm surprised it's been sterile for so long," Jeonghan crosses his arms quizzically, timidly stepping closer to the hole.

"What do you mean?" Seungcheol slings one strap of his backpack on.

"It stopped blowing out wind a while ago, but in there," Jeonghan points to Soonyoung's and Hansol's room. "One second it stopped, the next second it made Soonyoung and Minghao disappear..."

"How?" Wonwoo asks, walking past Jeonghan to have a closer look at the bright vortex of light. He peers into it, mind unable to fathom what's going inside and what it even looks like. The more his eyes are on it, the more he wonders if it is even a 'bright vortex of light' anymore. The inside of the portal seems three dimensional, but at the same time, having no dimension at all. It doesn't look flat, nor does it look real.

"The second that thing stopped, it sucked everything in."

As if to prove Jeonghan right, a loud burst spread throughout the dorm and it began to inhale whatever the contents exposed to it. Wonwoo, who stood less than a foot away from it, got sucked into it immediately, disappearing.

"Wonwoo!" Members yell all at once.

Mingyu and Junhui run forward, hand in hand, disappearing into the wormhole together. The vortex get bigger, hungrier, and stronger, as if it's still hungry after being fed. Members look to each other for confidence, wondering if it's okay to go just like them. Seungcheol pans through everyone in the room, all holding onto something bolted to the floor to keep them from being sucked in. He nods, and they unsurely nod back.

"Let's go!"

 

  
Wonwoo falls out of the wormhole and onto soft, mossy grass. His backpack pops out of the wormhole as well, dropping onto Wonwoo with an 'oof'. He stands up from the ground, brushing off the dirt and grass to pick up his backpack. He looks behind him. There's no wormhole, no blinding light, no opening into another world.

"Guys?" Wonwoo calls. A moment passes, and the panic begins to set in. "Guys?" He frantically shouts, feeling around the air since it's too dark to see, but he feels nothing other than vines, trees, and moss. "Guys!" He calls once more, spinning around when he hears something open up, the sound he would associate with glitter or magic filling the air. The air has a crack of white light in it before it opens up and spits out two others.

"Junhui! Mingyu!" The two fell to the ground, standing up together. Wonwoo tackled them back down to the ground, arms holding onto the both of them for dear life. They hug back.

"Dude, it's only been a few seconds," Mingyu laughs.

"I know, I know," Wonwoo sighs. "But look," he pulls away, standing up and pulling the other two up as well. "We're in some kind of jungle place. And I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no way back home," he gestures to the vast amount of trees in the dark.

"What..?" Mingyu steps forward curiously. "The thing is gone..." The air cracks with light and opens up in front of Mingyu, spitting out a screaming Seokmin to tumble into Mingyu. They stand up with painful groans, Seokmin rubbing his head and Mingyu rubbing his back.

"Are the others coming?" Mingyu asks, backing up from the area that spit out Seokmin.

"Yeah," Seokmin says, rolling his shoulder and massaging his neck. "Where are we?"

"I don't think any of us have a clue," Junhui shrugs.

The air cracks again, opening up to spit a few more members. A different crack opens up behind Wonwoo, who was quick enough to move out of the way before it spits out anymore of his members. Groans and yelps and 'oofs' are the only things that their members utter as they are flung to the ground.

"What the crap," Hansol gapes, standing up.

"Where are we?" Jeonghan pans the area, eyes and mouth wide open.

"Hi there!"

Everyone's heads whip around to the sound of that familiar voice in a not-so-familiar cheery tone. Two small orbs of golden yellow from afar appears in the darkness of the trees, a soft jingle of a small bell grows nearer and nearer. The figure appears in front of them, but it takes them a while to adjust their eyes to them.

"Minghao..?" Wonwoo quietly says. The person –er, this _someone_ – looks like the exact copy of Minghao, head to toe, except for a few things that Wonwoo knows Minghao shouldn't have. This "Minghao" has pink and purple striped cat ears and a long tail that hooks around his leg, reminding him of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. His piercing yellow eyes are entrancing and frightening at the same time. Wonwoo distracts himself with "Minghao's" exposed midsection, skinny muscles, and leather bell choker, avoiding his exotic eyes.

"Wonwoo!" "Minghao" bounds over to the aforementioned male, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and planting his lips on the other's. It takes a moment for Wonwoo to register what's happening, but he suddenly focuses on how soft "Minghao's" lips are. With a striking realization that this can't really be Minghao, Wonwoo pushes him back, stunned, face red.

"Took you guys long enough to get here," "Minghao" giggles menacingly to himself, stepping back and vanishing into the darkness of the lush trees.

Everyone stays silent in disbelief of _what the hell_ just happened. Wonwoo feels his lips with the tips of his fingers, surprised they aren't on fire. That couldn't have been Minghao that kissed him, there was no way. He doesn't want to believe it.

"Guys," Seungcheol quietly says, still comprehending their current situation. His members turn to him with equally confused expressions. "I don't think we're in Seoul anymore..."

 


	2. An Alternate Universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confusion!! Expect a few confusing moments throughout your reading!!
> 
> Enjoy :)

  
"There! A light!" Seokmin points out to a small abundance of light in the distance amongst all the trees.

"Where?" Seungcheol asks, turning his head towards the direction Seokmin's finger leads, narrowing his eyes. "I don't see it."

"But it's right there! Follow me," Seokmin orders them, walking to the front of their pack. Seungcheol shrugs, following closely behind.

Wonwoo trails slightly behind, following the backs of his fellow members, mind in a different place, still thinking about that kiss. His lips still tingle with the feeling of 'Minghao's' soft lips on his.

What if that really was Minghao? If so, did Minghao kiss Wonwoo? Is this some kind of lucid dream where Wonwoo finally has his love reciprocated by Minghao? If so, it's pretty realistic. And if Wonwoo was honest with himself, he would admit that Minghao's cat ears and tail were cute as hell.

Arms wrap around his abdomen, holding him back. "Still thinking about that kiss, huh?" Minghao's voice whispers into his ear, warm breath and soft hair tickling his neck. Wonwoo almost jumps, but the first thing he realizes is that no one is in front of him anymore.

"Guys?" Wonwoo calls out like earlier. A hand slides up to his mouth, muffling any noise from leaving his mouth. He removes the hand away from his face, shoving the person from behind off of him. "Who are you?" Wonwoo asks, watching as 'Minghao' reappears again, mischievous grin unsettling.

"I'm Minghao," the other simply answers.

"No. You're not," Wonwoo refuses. 'Minghao' takes a step forward to Wonwoo, swiftly grabbing his wrist before the other could back away. He leans in to nuzzle his face into Wonwoo's neck and shoulder, purring. The latter holds his breath.

"I very much am. I may not be the Minghao you know, but I very much am Minghao," 'Minghao' looks up at Wonwoo, hazy, yellow eyes, that Wonwoo can only presume is either lust or mischief, peering deeply into him. The cloudiness in his eyes worry him, but he doesn't step back. 'Minghao' softly pecks Wonwoo's lips, the other unmoving.

"I can take you to you're Minghao," the cat-eared male says. Wonwoo averts his eyes, nodding.

"Take me to him," he orders. 'Minghao' scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"As you wish."

The world around them spins around, disorienting Wonwoo and causing him to lose his balance, but 'Minghao' holds onto him, buries his face into him in fact. The world spins faster and faster until it becomes a dizzying blur and Wonwoo can't focus clearly anymore, closing his eyes. His mind feels like mush, sloshing around as if it's he who is spinning and not the world around him. He cracks open his eyes, feeling faint. 'Minghao' only looks back at him with this gut-wrenching grin, and that was the last thing Wonwoo saw before the world went black all around him.

 

 

Soonyoung blinks his eyes open, registering he was moving, though his legs weren't. He jerks up, realizing he was in someone's arms and falling to the ground. With a pained groan, he gets to his hands and knees, rubbing the shoulder he fell on.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Min. I'm...good..." Soonyoung looks up to see dark, serious eyes on a face he doesn't normally associate as serious. "Minnie?" He examines the other's face once more, not spotting any visual difference to his own boyfriend other than a few scars and metal armor. This person looks like Seokmin, but the air he carries is nothing like his boyfriend's—it's more sophisticated, caring but serious. It's unsettling.

"Soonyoung, are you—"

"Wait," Soonyoung interrupts 'Seokmin,' sitting up straight on his knees. He spins around several times before he's too dizzy to scan the place he was in. He isn't in any house, he's outside in some kind of camp. Multiple tents surround a campfire, the only warmth Soonyoung feels at the moment. The air is chilly; cold breezes pass, the side of Soonyoung farthest away from the fire shivering. His eyes stop on two other people, one of them being Minghao, limp in someone else's arms.

"Minghao!" Soonyoung gets up off the ground, but 'Seokmin' gently pushes him back down. "Min, what are you doing?" He pushes 'Seokmin's' hand off his shoulder. The latter brings a finger up to his lips and then points back at Minghao and the other person.

"Watch," 'Seokmin' says. Soonyoung turns his head around, watching as the other man sets Minghao laying down on the ground. Squinting his eyes, Soonyoung is able to make out the familiar figure.

"Wonwoo?" The other one doesn't look back at him, observing Minghao as if he's a piece of art on the ground. It doesn't feel right. Soonyoung wants to get up and stop this 'Wonwoo' or whoever they are, but 'Seokmin' keeps him down with a strong hand on his shoulder. So, Soonyoung has no choice but to watch, nervously waiting for 'Wonwoo' to do something.

The alternate Wonwoo kneels beside Minghao, lifting him up by the chin. Minghao doesn't move, still asleep, but the second 'Wonwoo' says "wake up" his eyes are open wide. His eyes are cold and blank, however, it's as if Minghao is still there, but just very, very far away. Soonyoung's eyebrows furrow, puzzled.

"Kiss me," 'Wonwoo' orders Minghao, and so Minghao follows, moving in to kiss him. It's wrong, Soonyoung knows it. Minghao doesn't follow orders as such that easily, whether it was jokingly or not, everyone knows that. Though, considering this was a 'Wonwoo' look-a-like, maybe Minghao wasn't passing up the chance to kiss him (that boy was so whipped for Wonwoo). On the side, another person appears from thin air, dropping someone else to the ground. Soonyoung's eyes widen, realizing who they are.

"They're all here, babe," 'Minghao' struts over to 'Wonwoo', the latter standing up from the ground to wrap his arms around his waist, sweetly planting a kiss on the other. Squinting, Soonyoung realizes the purple and pink striped cat ears on 'Minghao' with his tail waving about. The man 'Minghao' dropped was Wonwoo, who lies on the ground, unmoving. "Soonyoung set his illusion already. The trap is set."

"What illusion? What are you doing to my friends?!" Soonyoung shouts, gaining the attention of the other two. They stare at him, annoyed and intimidating, but Soonyoung doesn't back down. "Let me and my friends go back home!" 'Seokmin' puts his hand over his mouth, keeping anymore shouts from him inside.

"I'll take care of him," 'Seokmin' says, lifting Soonyoung off the ground. Soonyoung fights back, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. He drops to the ground, quickly recovering and getting on his feet. 'Seokmin' looks down at him, annoyed, and 'Wonwoo' walks over to him, anger in each step. 'Minghao' watches them with a mischievous smirk, seemingly overjoyed something is going down. But Soonyoung won't let it happen, quickly scurrying away to the bushes and trees. He wants to look back, see if his friends are going to be alright, but he doesn't look back, knowing it would only slow him down.

 

 

"Seokmin, where are you leading us?"

"Don't you guys see it? There's a campfire right there!" Seokmin says, determinedly gesturing forward. Seungkwan, Hansol, Chan, and Mingyu nod their heads, agreeing with Seokmin.

"Well, I see a lot of nothing and trees. Are you sure the travel here didn't get to your brain?" Jihoon scoffs. Jeonghan, Jisoo, Junhui, and Seungcheol agree with him.

"You're just too short to see over the trees," Mingyu laughs, and Jihoon is ready to pounce at him. Seungcheol slips his hand into the smaller's, preventing any mayhem to occur between their members.

"Guys, don't fight. We have to find Minghao and Soonyoung and get out of here," Seungcheol says, looking at his members. His eyes narrow in confusion and he recounts his members. "Someone's missing," Seungcheol announces, counting off his members by the head. "Where's Won—"

" _What do you mean they can't see the fire?!_ " A sharp hiss of a whisper carries around them, interrupting Seungcheol and effectively freezing everyone in their place.

" _They should all see it, I don't understand!_ " Another voice whines. Everyone steps back into each other, panning the area around them, their backs bumping into each other.

" _Well, 'Mr. Master Illusionist', not all of them can,_ " the same hiss snarks back.

" _Shut up, you two!_ " another voice orders.

"Who's there?" Seungcheol finally barks out, lightly pushing a persistent Jihoon behind him. There's a sigh of disappointment and frustration coming from the trees before another Jihoon walks out of the bushes, obviously irritated. He marches up to Seungcheol, hard eyes softening. It's Jihoon's turn to push Seungcheol back, eyeing the exact replica of himself and spotting the holstered gun at his waist.

"Who are you?" Jihoon asks, eyes narrow slits. 'Jihoon' pushes him aside, staring up at Seungcheol with a mix of disbelief and resentment. His hand reaches up caressing the taller's face, and Jihoon is quick to react, wielding a knife up to 'Jihoon's' neck, glad he secretly brought the weapon along. He glances at Seungcheol, who seems more concerned than surprised about the knife. He holds back an eye roll.

"You're definitely a feisty one," 'Jihoon' growls, annoyed. "Two can play at that game." Nine other exact copies of 'Jihoon' merge out of him, surrounding all ten of the members in an intimidating ring. "Give me Seungcheol and we'll leave you guys alone," he bargains, holding his hand out to make a deal. Jihoon slashes his knife, cutting the other 'Jihoon's' hand. Both Jihoons hiss in pain, hands stinging, one opening his hand to nothing and the other opening his hand to a bloody, open cut.

"He's not yours," Jihoon shoves his alternate down to the ground, ignoring the weird pain he feels. 'Jihoon' scoffs, getting off the ground and brushing off the dirt with his non-wounded hand. He stares back at Jihoon mockingly, grabbing his gun from his holster, his copies doing the same. He holds it up to their heads, and the other nine 'Jihoon' replicas do the same.

"I guess we'll just have to take him from you."

More people jump out of the bushes. Another Jisoo and Jeonghan jump in hand-in-hand, another Soonyoung pounces out of the bushes with a dagger in his grasp, and another Junhui appears with a flourishing cape and blood red eyes, a wolf accompanying him. Another Chan walks out of the bushes, holding out his arms to prevent everyone from killing each other.

"Now, now. Settle down," 'Chan' coaxes his buddies, though they don't lower their guard nor their weapons. "The queen and king ordered us to bring everyone alive, not just Seungcheol hyung, Jihoon hyung."

'Jihoon' lowers his gun with a grumble, the copies of him disappearing. He clenches a bloody fist as he walks past 'Chan', shoving him with his shoulder. "When we get Seungcheol back, you won't be the leader any longer," he mutters loud enough for almost everyone to hear. 'Chan' side-eyes him, unfazed.

"Go clean your hand up," 'Chan' suggests to the smaller, who huffs a scoff as he disappears into the trees and bushes. 'Chan' looks at his captives, putting on a friendly smile, hands clasped together.

"Let's get you guys to our camp."

Junhui jumps at the sight of the wolf beside the other 'Junhui' stand up and morph into an alternate version of Mingyu, the latter's hand intertwining with 'Junhui's' before walking along.

"Did you see that?" Junhui hugs Mingyu's arm tightly. Mingyu nods, combing the older's hair reassuringly. The alternate Jisoo and Jeonghan shove their backs, telling them to move forward. And so, everyone walks forward, squeezes together as they are surrounded by the alternate universe copies. They follow 'Chan' as he leads them deeper into the forest and towards a dim light, that everyone can see this time, in the distance.

 

 

Wonwoo groans, head spinning, body aching.

"Oh, he's finally awake," a familiar voice giggles. Before Wonwoo can even remember what happened before things went black, lips are on his. Eyes now wide open, Wonwoo pushes whoever's kissing him off, memories flooding his brain. Wormholes to an alternate universe and a Cheshire Cat Minghao that kissed him earlier and now. His brain hurts trying to remember anything that happened in the past hours—er, however much time has passed.

"You're not my Minghao," Wonwoo stands up off the ground, arms up in a guarding stance, ignoring the dizziness following after.

"No, he isn't. He's _mine_ ," the same voice growls. Wonwoo jumps realizing that voice was his, and the body owning the voice was also his, walking up to the Cheshire Minghao and wrapping his hand around his tail, lightly yanking at it. The cat-eared male jolts, high pitched mewls becoming something Wonwoo didn't know he wanted to hear up until now. "I don't appreciate you going off and kissing an alternate version of me."

"But he's so cute—ah!" Cheshire Minghao whimpers, forcefully pulled into the other Wonwoo's arms by the tail. Wonwoo watches it all, how the copy of himself fondles with Cheshire Minghao's tail, how the other Wonwoo hotly whispers lewd nothings into his fuzzy, striped ears, and how Cheshire Minghao just whines and whimpers in pleasure, doing the things Wonwoo himself would never be able to do.

Wonwoo awkwardly averts his eyesight his lips pursed in a straight line, uncomfortable and confused. If wrapping his head around the fact that there's another Minghao that is the human embodiment of the Cheshire Cat was hard, then wrapping his head around another copy of himself and the possibility of there being copies of the other members was mind-blowingly difficult. Not only that, but this alternate version of him has the alternate version of Minghao wrapped around his fingers, something Wonwoo can only dream of.

With his eyes averted from his wet dreams mockingly playing in front of him, Wonwoo is able to notice another familiar someone lying down in a tent. It's Minghao! It has to be his Minghao because Wonwoo knows that baggy set of house clothes and fluffy head of hair anywhere. He scurries past the alternate universe duo and to the tent where his Minghao is in. He shakes the boy awake, the latter's eyes opening slowly.

"Minghao, c'mon," Wonwoo takes Minghao's hand into his, about to lead him outside the tent. He halts his movements, noticing the sword pointing at him through the opening of the tent, a familiar Seokmin wielding the weapon. "Seokmin?" Wonwoo says in an inquiry tone. That 'Seokmin' doesn't seem so bubbly as the Seokmin Wonwoo knows, and he's for sure the Seokmin he knows will never hold a real sword without screaming or dropping it.

"Hands off of him," the sword-wielding Seokmin orders, so Wonwoo obeys, carefully placing Minghao's hand down onto the soft padding of the sleeping bag spread out on the tent floor.

"Don't sweat it, Seok. That Minghao isn't going anywhere with him," the other Wonwoo dismisses.

"What are you talking about?" Wonwoo angrily shouts back, the moment reminding him of an argument to his own reflection. He pushes the thought back, grabbing onto Minghao protectively now that the knight Seokmin put his sword down.

"Minghao, come here," 'Wonwoo' commands, and Minghao follows, getting up and out of the tent, but not without sparing a glance to his fellow member. He walks over to the other Wonwoo, the latter pulling him close to capture his lips, and that's when Wonwoo believes he's dreaming—not dreaming, he's having a nightmare or something— _because what the actual fuck is happening?_ His own reflection is practically mocking him with two Minghaos in his arms.

"Minghao?" Wonwoo tries calling out to his fellow member, and Minghao looks at him, though he's different. There's this emptiness in his eyes, so cold and lifeless they were, yet, he can see the slightest glimmer inside them, the slightest glimmer of Minghao all the way in the back.

"He can't hear you."

His alternate discourages him with narrowed eyes, but Wonwoo knows there's something else. Times like these were times Wonwoo needed his members the most because nobody else knew him more than his own members. Whether the alternate of himself is lying or not, Wonwoo is unsure, but something tells him that Minghao can still hear him. Now all he has to do is make him snap out of it, like the movies and shows Jisoo and Hansol binged on during their breaks.

"I know you can hear me, Minghao," Wonwoo says, making a move to get out of the tent, but freezing when alternate Seokmin points his sword down at him. "That Wonwoo isn't me." Minghao stares at him with the same blank gaze, but it's a response, a definite answer that he is listening.

"Where's The8? The boy from Anshan, China and scouted by Pledis? The cool cutie?" Minghao's face scrunches at the last sentence, cringing at the title. Wonwoo chuckles, not only enjoying the reaction, but quietly rejoicing knowing that Minghao's closer to him. The alternate Wonwoo growls, pulling Minghao closer and letting go of Cheshire Minghao in the process. The latter frowns with a hurt expression before disappearing, and Wonwoo almost sympathizes with him, but he needs to find his Minghao right now.

"Listen to me, punk!"

"Oh my god, stop," Minghao groans, palms covering his red face. "I thought I told you guys to stop saying that! My Korean wasn't even that good back then, stop bullying me~" he whines, and Wonwoo is elated, getting off the ground of the tent to run to Minghao.

"Minghao—" 'Seokmin' hits Wonwoo upside the head with the butt of his sword before the other could finish his exclamation. Wonwoo falls to the ground with a thud, the world immediately going black before him.

Minghao slowly takes his hands away from his face, alarmed by Wonwoo's silence and the thud. The rapper lays limp on the ground, 'Seokmin' standing above him, sword in hand.

"Wonwoo..?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please tell me if you don't understand some things, I myself trip up sometimes and have read a sentence again cuz I confused myself. If you have any idea about how to make this less confusing, that'd be appreciated too :>
> 
> also, I was thinking as I was writing this: "wow this would be a great game idea", so liek if someone makes/made a game with this kind of idea or if I ever in my life get a chance to make/partake in a game smthn like this I'd be so down lol


	3. Illusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy happy 2019 lol
> 
> I've posted seven dif fics last time I updated this.............as you can see I'm not procrastinating at all :DDDDDD
> 
> Heads up, it does change pov around the last segment of this chapter. I'm probably going to be doing a lot of pov switches from non-au svt to au svt in later chapter jlyk
> 
> I'm too lazy to edit, as always, so liek big oop on those typos lol
> 
> Enjoy :)

  
"Jihoon," Seungcheol whispers, taking his boyfriend's hand and leaning down closer to his ear. Jihoon tilts his head up slightly. "Are you getting any of this?" Jihoon processes the question, looking down before letting his eyes quietly roam around them and at the many members and the copies of them. He shakes his head.

"No, I have no idea what's happening. But whatever it is, I don't like it," Jihoon cautiously moves closer to Seungcheol and the rest of the pack behind them. The alternate leader Chan peers over his shoulder at the two, and Jihoon glares back with a fire burning the fierceness in his eyes. But all 'Chan' does is scoff at him, mockingly, before looking forward again. Jihoon challenges it, practically growling, ready to pounce onto that alternate. Seungcheol holds him back with his hand, though 'Chan' seems to have already notice.

"You two are no different," 'Chan' stops, turning around, effectively stopping everyone in their tracks, causing a few to bump into each other. "Always talking to each other, whispering to each other, during the most dangerous of situations that potentially lead to death," he clicks his tongue, and Jihoon feels a force pull him forward. He tries to resist but it's too strong, his legs moving by themselves. "Especially you," 'Chan' takes Jihoon's unwilling hand and cups his chin, observing his angered and frustrated expression. He crushes Jihoon's hand and digs his nails into his chin, lips pursed with a bitter expression, making the smaller whimper in pain.

"Let go of him!" Seungcheol was about to pounce onto him as well, but he froze, unable to move from his spot, unable to get Jihoon away from that alternate. 'Chan' does as Seungcheol asks, letting go of Jihoon, though the smaller can't seem to move either, still in pain as well. Seungcheol's glare doesn't falter, staring right back at 'Chan's' intimidating eyes.

"You'd better watch your mouth or your chatter will lead you into the same fate our Seungcheol faced," their leader warns, chin high, toe-to-toe with Seungcheol.

Chan, who was at the back of his pack of members, charges forward at his alternate, shoving him to the ground. Seungcheol and Jihoon let out a heavy breath of whatever relief that floods their systems, regaining the ability to move again.

"You're not me! Don't hurt my hyungs!" Chan balls his fist like he's going to punch his alternate, but refrains from doing so, unsure of punching what seems to be his own spitting image. Instead, Jihoon does it, clocking the alternate Chan in the face. Both Chans hiss, cheeks stinging, going up to feel their hurt cheek. Jihoon retracts himself from his punch, looking at his youngest member and his alternate with disgruntled worry. He knows that that alternative Chan isn't the Chan he's known for years now, so why does it feel like he's punching his own brother?

The alternate Junhui apprehends Jihoon, lifting him off the ground with ease. The small producer kicks and punches but to no avail. Seungcheol tries to shove 'Junhui' but it's no use either, it's like the alternate universe version of Junhui was a brick wall. Alternate Mingyu barks at Seungcheol, shoving him to the ground and keeping him there with his foot digging into his chest. The rest of the members try to fight the alternates off of their fellow members, and everything becomes chaotic.

A hand suddenly grabs Seokmin's wrist and pulls him aside, and the owner of the hand has Seokmin lunging forward with his arms open to wrap around the other.

"Minnie?" Soonyoung asks over the loud shouts and screams of their members, pushing Seokmin off of him.

"Soonyoung! When did you get here? Where have you been?" Seokmin holds Soonyoung's face tenderly, looking him up and down for any injuries. He envelops him in for another tight hug, pulling away slightly to plant a soft kiss on Soonyoung's lips. Soonyoung snatches himself away, his face flushed red. The latter shakes his head as if he's trying to shake off an unthinkable thought.

"I've been waiting for you for so long, where have you been?" Soonyoung responds with an accusing tone, seemingly shaken up by the way he lightly twitches.

Seokmin is slightly taken aback. That kind of tone was almost unheard of from Soonyoung. But maybe Soonyoung has been waiting for long, maybe time is different in this universe, maybe a few minutes back in his world could be days or even weeks on this one. Though, something doesn't add up. Soonyoung wears the same clothes as he did the last time Seokmin saw him, the clothes and Soonyoung himself unscathed and clean, really clean—not even Seokmin's clothes were that clean at the moment, and it's only been approximately an hour since they arrived in this world. Yet, the more he focuses on his clothes, the more his eyes try to focus harder, almost as if it's blurry but not—double vision, more like.

Seokmin decides not to question the clothes and instead question the stability of his boyfriend. "Is everything alright, Soon?"

"No, everything is not alright," Soonyoung vigorously shakes his head, placing his hands on Seokmin's shoulders with a grip so hard it has the younger wincing. "Why'd you come only now?" He asks, a desperate expression filling his features. Seokmin's breath hitches when he sees that face. He carefully formulates his sentence.

"Soon, what happened while we weren't here?" Seokmin reluctantly searches for the answer in Soonyoung's eyes. It's almost as if the world has gone silent and there was nobody else but them. In fact, Seokmin can't hear anything and can't see anything other than Soonyoung. He would look to see where the others have gone, but he can't seem to tear his eyes off his boyfriend.

"Min," Soonyoung licks his lips nervously before saying with a serious face, "Minghao is dead.."

The information takes a little for Seokmin to process. But hasn't he seen Minghao kiss Wonwoo earlier? "I don't understand," Seokmin eventually says, examining Soonyoung for anything that stood out to be a lie. "We saw him a while ago..." He pauses. Was that even Minghao? Granted, Minghao doesn't have cat ears and a tail and can't disappear at will, so it could've been this universe's version of Minghao. What would that make of his Minghao? Is what Soonyoung says true?

"No, Min. They killed him," Soonyoung's hand shift from Seokmin's shoulders to his neck, delicate touches passing over the skin and up to tenderly cup his cheeks. Seokmin wonders why he does that and if it's supposed to comfort him. "That Minghao you saw earlier must've been the one from here, not our Minghao," the older informs him, their eyes eventually locking together. Seokmin can't see the Soonyoung he's been dating for years, it's almost as if Soonyoung's a totally different person just wearing the same skin as his boyfriend.

"But then..." Seokmin begins, not really knowing what he was going to say. But what? If Soonyoung is speaking the truth, then what? Minghao's dead, what can he say that's going to change that? Saying 'but' won't change anything. Are they really too late? Is Minghao really dead? He can't be, right? Right?

A harsh feeling of loss begins to swallow his heart as Soonyoung leans up to plant a soft kiss, and that simple contact sends images flashing through Seokmin's mind. It's like Soonyoung is communicating to him what he saw through the kiss, however that may be possible. All that comes to Seokmin's mind are flashing images of his Chinese friend lying down with the life no longer in his eyes. It's frightening, yet it's impossible to stop it. The images pass by him quickly, but he can see all of them.

Minghao can't be dead. No matter what Soonyoung says or what the images show to him, he won't believe it until he sees it with his own eyes, as much as he might regret it. Minghao is practically a brother to him as much as he is for everyone, so how can Soonyoung be so calm about this? Has it been that long that he's grown immune to his death? Are they really too late? The more he thinks, the more he feels like he's slipping away from his own mind.

Mingyu fights off the wolf on top of him that threatens to literally bite his face off. From the corner of his eye, he sees Seokmin kissing the alternate Soonyoung. Seokmin's eyes are open, distraught and lost. Why is he kissing the alternate? Shouldn't he know that's not Soonyoung? Mingyu shoves off the wolf, wincing when he feels his shoulder ache a little when the wolf lands on its side.

"Seokmin!" Mingyu shoves the alternate Soonyoung away from Seokmin. 'Soonyoung' falls to the ground with a hiss.

"Mingyu," Seokmin gives Mingyu this look that almost creeps him out with how lifeless his eyes look. "Minghao," he just says, his expression cracking with a sudden sadness. "Mingyu," his voice cracks, tears welling up in his eyes, almost falling into Mingyu's arms.

"Seokmin, whatever that Soonyoung told you, don't listen to him, okay?" Mingyu lightly shakes Seokmin's shoulders.

"We're too late, Gyu," Seokmin sobs.

"Too late for what?" Mingyu asks, attempting to get Seokmin to face him properly. A figure from the corner of his eye stands up. He looks at the alternate Soonyoung. "What did you tell him?" Mingyu barks at the other. 'Soonyoung' purses his lips with an annoyed expression, challenging Mingyu's glare.

Suddenly everything and everyone disappears around Mingyu. Seokmin isn't in his arms, the alternate Soonyoung isn't staring him down, his members aren't fighting the alternate universe version of themselves, it's just him in the woods, alone. It feels like a trick to his eyes yet it all feels very real. A tap on his shoulder removes him from his confused trance.

"Hyung?" Mingyu looks at the one that stands before him. It's Junhui. His image is clear but at the same time illusive, almost as if his own mind plays tricks on him. He reaches out to Junhui to make sure. He feels his soft hand, and suddenly he can confidently say that this is real. Junhui laces their fingers together.

"Hey, Gyu," Junhui gives him a small, reassuring smile that seems to ease all of Mingyu's nerves, his mind and body feeling amazingly calm as if he was injected by some euphoric drug. Mingyu returns the smile, giving the other's hand a small squeeze. For whatever reason it feels right, Mingyu's other hand falls to Junhui's waist as they both sweetly dance to whatever music that Mingyu can somehow hear.

Junhui watches from afar as he's assisting Chan in fighting the latter's alternate. Mingyu dances alone, waltzing with the other Junhui alternate, a sweet smile adorning his face. Though his eyes seem lost and almost empty, but to a blissful extent. Why the hell his Mingyu dancing with him? Junhui thinks as he shoves the alternate Chan with a sudden aggressive feeling. Both Chans hiss.

"Enough!" 'Chan' barks out, and everyone freezes except for his alternate universe buddies, and Mingyu and Seokmin, but those two seem to be in their own world, Mingyu in heaven while Seokmin is in hell. Mingyu continues to dance with the alternate Junhui as Seokmin whispers something comforting to himself, hands over his ears. Their eyes share the same blown pupils and emptiness.

'Chan' stands up from off the ground, brushing off the dirt and wiping off the blood. They all watch him with cautios eyes. Suddenly, the rest of the members are unwillingly down on their knees, almost as if some unusual force brought them to this position.

"You guys are a hassle, you deserve that much," 'Chan' tuts his head, walking back and forth in front of the members. He sees two in particular off to the side in their own world. "Soonyoung hyung, what are you doing to them?" He points to Seokmin and Mingyu.

"Well," 'Soonyoung' begins, presenting Seokmin with his hands gesturing to the fetal position the human is in. It's like he's introducing a product of his own except kind of sick and twisted. "This man right here is already in the hallucinatory nightmares stage, and him over here," he walks over to Mingyu and 'Junhui'. "He's about to get bit," he smiles proudly, like he just presented his best power point yet.

"Ah, yes," 'Chan' nods, looking over to 'Junhui'. "Why don't you demonstrate how, Jun hyung?" 'Junhui' looks over his shoulder at 'Chan', nodding.

"Is something wrong, hyung?" Mingyu asks, cupping the other's face to direct his attention to him. There's a glint in Junhui's eyes that he's unsure of, and that smirk should unease him it but doesn't, mind unable to comprehend uneasiness when all he can feel is happiness..

Everyone watches helplessly as 'Junhui' nuzzles around Mingyu's neck. There's a collective amount of gasps when 'Junhui' opens his mouth, two big, sharp teeth that pierce into Mingyu's golden skin. A few don't watch much like Junhui, who simply doesn't want to.

Mingyu whimpers, hands clutching Junhui's as he feels his own euphoria leave his body. Everything bleeds back into reality, a spell wearing off. His friends and their alternate universe versions appear in his vision, most watching in horror, others watching in amusement, and one that Mingyu can only focus on. Junhui is on his knees, looking down at the dirt. With what intelligent consciousness that is left in his body, Mingyu wonders how Junhui can be on the ground and also at his neck.

Yelping, Mingyu lets go of 'Junhui's' hands, attempting to push him away. Key word being attempt. The alternate Junhui doesn't budge, continuously sucking the life out of Mingyu, who grows weaker each passing second.

"That'll be enough for now, Jun hyung," 'Chan' says, and the vampire detaches his fangs from Mingyu's neck, the latter collapsing to the ground, but not unconscious. Mingyu rests his head against the ground, groaning. His head is light, body weak. Sleeping feels like the only answer at the moment, but something inside him encourages him to stay awake.

"It's been a while since I've tasted pure human blood," 'Junhui' blissfully sighs, wiping off any blood dripping from his lips and licking it off his thumb.

"Mingyu? Are you okay?" Junhui worriedly calls from where he kneels.

"Yeah.." It comes out a very quiet whimper, but the message comes across, though Junhui, or any of the members for that matter, aren't reassured by the response

The members then turn to the group before them, a few faces flashing with anger and the others lips quivering in fear when an amused yet menacing chuckle catches their attention. 'Chan' stands above them with irritation.

"You don't want to end up like your friend, correct?" 'Chan' intimidates them. None of them back down to his glare, standing (or really, kneeling) together, and Jihoon and Seungcheol most certainly don't back down either. 'Chan' looks down at the duo with a distasteful expression. His eyes narrow, focusing on the two. A second later, Jihoon and Seungcheol are screaming in pain, almost as if the pain was running in their blood and through their veins, muscles tensing, head pounding. Another yelp comes from the trees, followed by a hard thud to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Chan shouts, hoping his alternate would take his attention off of his hyungs and at him instead. It doesn't work. Determined to help his friends out, Chan uses every fiber of his being to break free of whatever spell his alternate put on him.

"Chan, stop it," a voice weakly calls out from the trees. The replicator Jihoon from earlier limps from the bushes, trembling in pain, his partially-bandaged hand holding onto his shoulder that's dirty with moss and grass from most-likely falling to the ground. 'Chan' doesn't listen, seemingly making whatever pain he was inflicting become even more excruciating. The alternate Jihoon falls to his knees with a shout.

"Chan!" 'Jisoo' takes his leader by the shoulders, shaking the shorter vigorously. "Stop it!" When shaking him doesn't stop him, he slaps his face, hard enough to make him turn the other direction. Chan himself can feel it too, but instead of dwelling on the sting of pain, he becomes freed of whatever spell on him first, tackling his alternate down while Jihoon and Seungcheol gasp for air and wheeze out coughs.

With the alternate Chan unable to focus on everyone, they're freed from his spell, regaining the ability to move again. They don't run away, hurrying to their leader and his second-in-command with worry flooding their bodies.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Seungkwan examines Jihoon and Seungcheol, though he doesn't spot any injuries or physical damage that wasn't from their brawl with the alternates earlier.

"Yes, I'm okay. Go get Seokmin," Seungcheol orders his members, still recovering. The others nod, Hansol and Seungkwan going over to Seokmin, who continues to seem ignorant of the world around him. Before the two could reach their hyung, a wolf pounces in front of them, sending them reeling back with a yelp.

"You guys," the alternate Jihoon rasps out as he seemingly tries to recover from his own pain. "You will come with us. And this will not happen again."

Hansol and Seungkwan look at each other for a moment, worry and fear present in their eyes, before turning to their friends that crowded around Seungcheol and Jihoon, some prying Chan off of his alternate. The two look back at the alternate Jihoon, unsure of anything anymore, but more terrified than anything.

 

"...Wonwoo?" Minghao takes his hands from his face, looking down to where he heard the hard thud of someone hitting the ground. "Wonwoo?" Minghao breaks out of the arms that held him tight, getting to the ground beside his fainted member. A sword is pointed down at him, in between his eyes, making him go cross eyed trying to look at it.

"Don't you dare hurt him, Seokmin," the alternate Wonwoo commands, startling Minghao. It was another Wonwoo and Seokmin. But he doesn't feel like he knows either of them.

"But we already have that Minghao. We don't need to steal another Minghao from another universe," 'Seokmin' argues, retracting his sword from Minghao. A small rock is flung to the knight's head, bouncing off of him and back onto the ground. He looks to the direction of where it came from.

"Shut up!" Cheshire Minghao yells at them, yellow eyes burning like the campfire set up in the twilight of the forest. Minghao looks at the cat version of himself, confused. That was him in a whole purple and pink, Cheshire Cat getup, and damn is he rocking it. Definitely a concept he should maybe try out later when he's back home.

Cheshire Minghao sighs, ears twitching as he runs a hand through his hair. "Just...just knock him out already."

And before Minghao can process who his alternate referred to as 'him,' he was knocked out by the knight Seokmin with the butt of his sword, the only word he last hears being a loud "no!" as the world around him turns to black.

Cheshire Minghao hisses, gripping a tuft of his own hair to bare the harsh pain of his alternate getting hit upside the head. He watches Wonwoo bound to the other Minghao's side with a frown. "What's so important about him? I'm just like him but ten times better," the cat-human bitterly says, proving his point by disappearing and reappearing by Wonwoo's side, tail wrapping itself around the hypnotist's neck and brushing off his shoulders. Wonwoo ignores him, carrying the alternate Minghao and placing him nicely in the tent. The hybrid cat grumbles.

"Why did you even take me from my world?"

"I'm glad you're here," Seokmin says with a small, reassuring grin. Minghao looks at the knight before his eyes fall back to the ground, softly laughing to himself.

"Thanks, Min," the cat hybrid's tail swishes around bashfully. "Almost two years have passed since you guys took me from my world to replace your Minghao," he looks up from the ground to watch Wonwoo tend to the human Minghao, bitterly gazing at the man. "Almost two years since that crazy bastard had me captured in his hands. I wonder how I fell in love with him sometimes..."

"What do you mean?" Seokmin inquires.

"Well," Minghao begins with a hum, tail swishing back and forth in thought. "You already know that back in my world, Caratland, I didn't even love the Wonwoo back in my world. I told you I loved the 'Mad Hatter', but I don't think I told you who the 'Mad Hatter' is."

"Yeah. You never did," Seokmin thoughtfully recalls. "You just kept saying his name was the 'Mad Hatter'."

Minghao nods. "You can't tell anyone this, okay? I'll wake up with my tail missing if this gets to—" Seokmin grunts in pain, gripping onto his head. He hunches over with the support of his sword keeping him up. Minghao worriedly looks over at the knight.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" The hybrid asks, noticing the light sheen of sweat on Seokmin's face. He rests his hand on the latter's shoulder to get a better look at the other's face.

"Either they're doing something to my alternate, or uh..." Seokmin pauses, expression conflicted. Minghao eases the knight to sit down on one of the sleeping bags laid out.

"What's wrong?" Minghao asks once more.

"Nothing, I just...can't think straight. There's so many thoughts in my mind that don't belong to myself," the knight shakes his head.

"Go get some rest, you've been up on guard duty for way too long," Minghao pats the other, the latter's armor softly clanging against each other.

"No, I must stay on guard," Seokmin insists, Minghao lightly pushing him back down.

"You've done enough already, rest," the hybrid sternly says. Reluctantly, Seokmin lies down. Minghao gives him a soft, relieved smile. "Honestly, if Soonyoung wasn't threatening me to stay away from you and if I wasn't so helplessly wrapped around Wonwoo's finger, you'd probably be the only reason I'd stay, willingly."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I still miss home," Minghao purses his lips with a shrug. "It means too many things suck here. I hate it here. You're, like, the only one I want to get along with more, but I can barely get close to you because Soonyoung is always following you around and because I'm practically chained at the neck to Wonwoo," he sighs scornfully.

"But you don't hate him either, don't you," Seokmin says smugly.

"Unfortunately," Minghao chuckles, Seokmin laughing along. "But everyone else can go die. Well, except you," he ruffles Seokmin's hair. The latter raises an eyebrow.

"What's with ruffling my hair? I'm not a child," Seokmin points out. Minghao smiles, despondent but reminiscent at the same time. Seokmin can see it in the hybrid's golden eyes how disappointed he is. But he chooses not to speak of it.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry," Minghao shakes his head, getting up off the ground. "Go get some rest, I'll keep watch, and hopefully my own boyfriend can at least spare a glance at me."

Seokmin complies, settling onto the sleeping bag while Minghao grabs him a pillow. The knight gratefully takes it, putting it beneath his head. He dozes off pretty quickly, to Minghao's nonexistent surprise. Seokmin has been up on guard for over twenty hours, so it's safe to say he'd be knocked out by the second he closes his eyes.

"So, who is this 'Mad Hatter'?" Minghao whips his head around from the sleeping knight. "How come I don't know about him?" Wonwoo inquires, crossing his arms. Minghao shakes his head forlornly.

"It doesn't matter," the hybrid sighs.

"My boyfriend's last lover..." Wonwoo pauses thoughtfully. "I think he is someone I should worry about, especially since Seokmin knew about this person before I did."

"It's no one, really," Minghao says, eyes on the ground. Wonwoo walks towards him, kneeling down by his side. He runs a hand through his soft locks, the other purring subconsciously. Jeez, even after admitting how much he hates it here, he still can't resist Wonwoo's strokes. Tilting the hybrid's head up, Wonwoo captures his lips. Minghao pushes him away, blankly gazing into Wonwoo's eyes.

"'Practically chained at the neck' to me, hm?" Wonwoo repeats Minghao's remark from earlier. "So, tell me who it is, kitten," he smirks. Minghao blushes, mildly taken off guard by the pet name, but melting at a steady rate. He mentally shakes his brain out of it before the words get to his head. Of course Wonwoo knows how to get any word out of his mouth, but today it's not going to work.

"I'm not telling you."

 

Minghao turns his head towards the bushes, sensitive ears twitching to the sound of far away rustling. He signals for Wonwoo, both of them going into a ready stance. Jihoon walks out, followed by Chan and the rest of their human alternates except one alternate human Soonyoung. Cheshire Minghao spots the attempted wrap of bandages on Jihoon's bloody hand with a curious eyebrow. The latter notices his stare.

"They're a hard bunch, I'll give them that," Jihoon looks back at the humans. "Really annoying though," he spits out.

"Is Minnie asleep?" Soonyoung walks over to his boyfriend, who's asleep on top of one of the sleeping bags.

"Yeah, let him rest. He said he couldn't think straight earlier," Minghao informs the illusionist, rolling his eyes when the magic-user narrows his eyes at him. "Did you do something to his alternate, perhaps?" And Minghao spots as the alternate Seokmin walks far behind the group coming to the camp, eyes seemingly lost. Soonyoung's illusion must be on him.

"That explains his headache," Minghao mutters to himself. "Free him from the illusion, Wonwoo's going to need their full attention anyways," he orders Soonyoung. The latter huffs, unwilling to listen Minghao but is still required to do so. He faces the alternate Seokmin and waves his hand, relieving the illusion from the human.

The human blinks, eyes regaining its full shine as it seems to look like he's waking up. Minghao snorts, finding the situation ironic. Too bad the alternate Seokmin's full power over his thoughts is only short lived since Wonwoo has to put them under his control.

"Okay, all of you," Wonwoo stands up from where he was by the tent, stopping before the group of humans in front of him. His friends clear out, knowing that Wonwoo is about to cast a spell. Wonwoo holds up his fingers. "Sleep," he snaps his fingers and the humans tumble to the ground in unconsciousness, though miraculously not falling into anyone.

Minghao watches Wonwoo with tight lips, ears twitching and tail swishing about. The alternates on the ground open their eyes, expressions just as blank as their eyes. They're fully under Wonwoo's control now, the only two humans free of his intentions being his alternate and Minghao's alternate. It leaves a twisted feeling in Minghao's stomach when one of the humans look straight at him, knowing that they have no free will until Wonwoo releases them from his spell.

He decides he'll just sit back for this one.

"Get them to the castle. Get that one too," Wonwoo gestures to his alternate on the ground.

 

Soonyoung watches from afar in the trees, trying his best not to step on any twigs and to just softly brush past leaves. No one has noticed him yet, but that can all change the second he makes a noise that draws atten—

 _Fuck_ , Soonyoung silently curses under his breath. Something cracks underneath his foot and is muted into the ground, but in the quiet he's trying maintain, it sounds pretty loud in his ears. He looks up at the people leading his friends through the forest, noticing that Cheshire Minghao from earlier trails slightly behind. The latter's ear twitches and he disappears from Soonyoung's sight. That's a little unsettling...

Soonyoung holds his breath, carefully lifting his foot off of the twig he stepped on, making sure he doesn't make any noises at all. He's extra alert now that the alternate Minghao is no where to be seen. How did he disappear in the first place?

"I'm a magical being, that's how."

Soonyoung whips his head around, frightening, golden orbs gazing at him in the darkness of the trees. He almost screams but his mouth is quickly covered by a hand, sharp nails poking into his cheek, threatening to dig deeper.

" _Shh, shh._ You want to help your friends, right?" Cheshire Minghao hisses. Soonyoung nods his head. "Then shut up or you'll get caught, do you understand?" The other nods his head once more. It takes another moment of silence before he's freed from Cheshire Minghao's grasp, taking in quiet, deep breaths so he doesn't sound too loud.

"What did you do to my friends?" Soonyoung whispers after regaining enough air to speak.

Cheshire Minghao purses his lips, tapping his chin in thought. "Well, you're friends are currently under Wonwoo's mind spell; two of them are knocked out, which includes my alternate, aka your Minghao; and they're all getting escorted to the castle to be seen by King Hansol and Queen Seungkwan," the hybrid sums it up with a faux-innocent grin that is generally unsettling. But Soonyoung is thinking of something else.

"Uh, did you say King Hansol and Queen Seungkwan?"

 

"Prostrate yourselves before the King and Queen of the Carat Kingdom!"

"Mm..?" Seungcheol grumbles, feeling himself slip back into consciousness. His clothes are soaking wet and he's splashed with ice cold water—which feels more like a slap than a splash. "What the?" Another slap of ice water is thrown at his face. "Okay, okay! I'm awake!" He's then hit upside the head, albeit quite softly. He looks up to see who it was. "Jihoon?"

"Shh," the smaller hushes, gesturing forward. Seungcheol looks forward and back at Jihoon, realizing it was the latter's alternate and not his actual boyfriend. "Bow," 'Jihoon' hisses quietly, gesturing his head to the royalty that sits above them. Seungcheol looks at the queen and king, squinting, shaking the water out of his eyes. Is that..?

Another Seungkwan and Hansol sit on thrones in a position that demands everyone's respect and attention.

"Bow before the King and Queen!"

_What in the world?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> King and Queen verkwan is a whole aesthetic lmao
> 
> Idk wut to write down here so........stan The BOYZ...and Vixx lol
> 
> If ur confused abt anything plz comment down below and I'll try to answer as best as possible :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if I should add a tag if need be, I'm still unsure how to go about this fic in the simplest, non-confusing way possible. As you can see, that end bit with the Cheshire Minghao, I used quotes on his name, yeah you'll be seeing those quotes ALOT through the course of this fic until I find a better way to describe the alternate versions of svt.
> 
> Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are all appreciated but you can do whatever you want :)
> 
> Thanxx for reading ^^


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